The HistoryMakers

1974 -1976	Julieanna L. Richardson conducts audiocassette interviews of Butterfly McQueen (Gone With the Wind), and Lee Whipple (then, the oldest living black actor) and others involved with the Harlem Renaissance and those who also knew author/writer, Langston Hughes.
July 1999	The HistoryMakersis incorporated as a 501(c)(3) non-profit and due diligence period begins.
December 1999	The HistoryMakers interviews its first HistoryMaker radio executive, Barry Mayo. The HistoryMakers interviews State Senate President Emil Jones, Jr. After the interview, Senator Jones is so impressed with The HistoryMakers that he agrees to help secure funding for the initiative.
February 2000	The HistoryMakers radio series begins on WBBM-AM. Harry Belafonte agrees to come to Chicago for the national launch of The HistoryMakers.
March 2000	The HistoryMakers receives $200,000 in funding from the State of Illinois.
April 2000	The HistoryMakers begins it national outreach by interviewing Julian Bond in Washington, DC.
May 2000	Danny Glover agrees to interview his friend and fellow actor/humanitarian Harry Belafonte as part of The HistoryMakers National Launch.
June 2000	Interviews begin for the State of Illinois project entitled Pioneers in the Struggle. This project traces the history of history of African Americans who have served in the Illinois General Assembly since 1877. This important, but little known history, is documented in a 60:00 TV documentary, interactive CD-ROM and curriculum guide.
August 2000	The HistoryMakers holds its kick-off reception for An Evening with Harry Belafonte.
October 2000	The HistoryMakers receives funding from the Illinois Humanities Council, the Chicago Community Trust and the Joyce Foundation.
November 2000	The National Launch of The HistoryMakers kicks off with An Evening with Harry Belafonte. Over 1000 people attend this event describing the program as riveting and life changing
February 2001	The HistoryMakers premiers An Evening with Harry Belafonte at the Chicago Cultural Center. The HistoryMakers and the Chicago Cultural Center host Three Artists, Three Lives, Three Stories. ABC 7 personality Bill Campbell moderates a discussion between artists Dawoud Bey, Richard Hunt and Allen Stringfellow. An Evening with Harry Belafonte airs on A&E. An Evening with Harry Belafonte airs on Network Chicago Channel 11.
March 2001	The HistoryMakers is awarded a $240,000 grant from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation to conduct interviews over a two-year period in 26 of the Knight Community Initiative cities throughout the country.
September 2001	The HistoryMakers hosts An Evening With Dionne Warwick kickoff reception.
October 2001	The HistoryMakers, in conjunction with Senator Emil Jones, Governor George Ryan and Senator Mike Madigan, hosts a TV screening and roll out of Pioneers in the Struggle TV documentary, interactive CD-ROM and curriculum guide at the James R. Thompson State of Illinois building. The HistoryMakers in collaboration with the Field Museum and the DuSable Museum of African-American History hosts Black and Red: The Little Known History of African American and American Indian Heritages.
November 2001	An Evening with Dionne Warwick and a Salute to the 2001 HistoryMakers is held at the Field Museum on Thursday, November 15^th.
February 2002	WVON: The Good Ol’ Days of 60s Radio: A panel discussion at the Chicago Cultural Center with legendary personalities including Lucky Cordell, Cecil Hale, Herb Kent, Richard Pegue, and Pervis Spann. 450 people attend.
June 2002	The HistoryMakers archive named a special collection as part of the Illinois State Library system.
July 2002	Pioneers in the Struggle: Three free training sessions held during the months of June and July at Saint Xavier University for 90 teachers.
October 2002	Meet The HistoryMakers: A Day of Education: Free seminar where 60 HistoryMakers from around the country served as panelists discussing their lives and experiences for an audience of 300 Chicago-area teachers, students and librarians. Teacher training conducted on the proper use of The HistoryMakers website. Becoming A HistoryMaker curriculum guides distributed. CPDU credits awarded. An Evening With Ossie Davis & Ruby Dee: Held at the Art Institute of Chicago, the live interview conducted by activist and educator, Angela Davis was taped as a TV program to be aired nationally on PBS. 1000 people in attendance, including 100 Chicago Public School teachers.
November 2002	The HistoryMakers receives a grant of $75,000 as a recipient of the 2002 Citigroup Illinois Leadership Council Award to train teachers throughout the State of Illinois on the use of Pioneers in the Struggle.
February 2003	Showtime! Black Theatre in Chicago held at the Chicago Cultural Center with support from the Illinois Humanities Council featuring leaders in Chicagos Black Theatre community: Val Gray Ward of Kuumba Theatre; Jackie Taylor of Black Ensemble Theatre; Douglas Alan Mann of Chicago Theatre Company; and Okoro Harold Johnson of ETA Creative Arts Foundation. 300 people are in attendance.
March 2003	The HistoryMakers receives $150,000 from Chicago Public Schools and $100,000 from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation to launch The HistoryMakers Education Institute.
April 2003	Citigroup hosts a reception at The Metropolitan Club of Chicago to announce the launch of The HistoryMakers Education Institute.
May 2003	The HistoryMakers is awarded a $5,000 grant from The Spencer Foundation and a $10,000 grant from The Field Foundation of Illinois to support The HistoryMakers Education Institute.
June 2003	Harris Bank hosts a reception to launch The HistoryMakers Speakers Bureau on June 3, 2003 The HistoryMakers is awarded a $30,000 grant from the Chicago Community Trust to support its National Planning Summit, Creating A National Network in Chicago.
July 2003	The HistoryMakers National Planning Summit is held in Chicago at the Wyndham Chicago Hotel July 25-27, 2003. The HistoryMakers Education Institute week-long teacher training sessions are held July 7-11 and July 14-18.
August 2003	The HistoryMakers Education Institute brought together participating HistoryMakers and teachers for a meeting to review the Institute’s goals and to train HistoryMakers who are serving as mentors to Institute classrooms.
September 2003	The HistoryMakers was awarded a $163,600 National Leadership Grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Sciences to work in collaboration with Carnegie-Mellon University’s Informedia program to digitize and encode 400 interviews (1200 hours) in its collection using a unique digital archival system developed by Professor Howard Wactlar and his team. The Polk Brothers Foundation awards a grant of $30,000 for The HistoryMakers Education Institute
October 2003	Meet The HistoryMakers: A Day of Education: This second educational symposium is hosted by The HistoryMakers in conjunction with the DePaul Center for Urban Education. Sixty HistoryMakers meet with more than 300 students, teachers and librarians for a day-long interactive educational seminar. Breakfast with Lynn Whitfield: actress Lynn Whitfield, best known for playing Josephine Baker, has breakfast with and speaks before a crowd of 100 V.I.P guests at the Westin Hotel Chicago, encouraging their support of The HistoryMakers. Whitfield served as honorary co-chair for An Evening With B.B. King. An Evening With B.B. King: The HistoryMakers fourth annual celebrity interview, featuring Isaac Hayes interviewing the King of the Blues, B.B. King. Over 1,000 people attend the program, which is aired nationwide on PBS.
November 2003	The HistoryMakers is awarded a grant of $10,000 from the Citigroup Foundation.
December 2003	The HistoryMakers plays host to society maven Susan Fales-Hill in an exclusive afternoon tea and book signing at the Park Hyatt Hotel in Chicago. Fales-Hill is the author of Always Wear Joy: My Mother Bold and Beautiful, a memoir of her mother, Josephine Premice Fales. The HistoryMakers receive a grant of $25,000 from the Circle of Service Foundation to support The HistoryMakers Education Institute. The HistoryMakers staff attend a training seminar in Washington, D.C., for the Institute of Museum and Library Sciences grant.
January 2004	The HistoryMakers Training Summit: The HistoryMakers brings together interviewers and videographers from across the nation for a week-long training session to prepare teams for work in newly created regional offices